EPISODE 4 : THE ENEMY WHO REMEMBERED
747 Words
The room fell silent.
Nobody moved.
Nobody spoke.
Asher stared at the person standing in the doorway, trying to understand why a stranger’s presence made his entire body feel like it was remembering something his mind had forgotten.
The figure stepped further into the room.
A man dressed in a long black coat.
His face was calm, almost emotionless, but there was something familiar about his eyes.
Something cold.
Something dangerous.
Lucas immediately stepped forward.
“Stay behind me.”
Asher looked at him.
“You know him.”
It was not a question.
Lucas’s expression hardened.
“Yes.”
The stranger smiled slightly.
“So after all these years, you’re still protecting him.”
His voice carried a strange bitterness.
Lucas did not respond.
Instead, his gaze remained fixed on the man.
“You shouldn’t have found him.”
The stranger laughed quietly.
“And you shouldn’t have hidden him.”
Asher’s eyes moved between them.
He hated being the only person in the room who didn’t understand what was happening.
“Enough.”
Both men looked at him.
“I want answers.”
The stranger looked at Asher carefully.
Then he smiled.
“You really don’t remember anything, do you?”
Asher’s jaw tightened.
“Who are you?”
The man walked closer.
“My name is Adrian Vale.”
The name meant nothing to Asher.
But the reaction from Lucas told him everything.
Lucas’s eyes darkened.
“Don’t listen to him.”
Adrian ignored him.
“I was there the night your kingdom fell.”
Asher froze.
Another person.
Another connection to that night.
“Why?”
His voice was quieter now.
“Why does everyone remember what happened except me?”
For the first time, Adrian’s expression changed.
Not anger.
Not amusement.
Something closer to pity.
“Because someone took those memories from you.”
The words hit Asher harder than expected.
“What?”
Lucas looked away.
And that small movement was enough.
Asher noticed.
“You knew.”
Silence.
“You knew something was wrong with my memories.”
Lucas remained quiet.
The disappointment on Asher’s face was impossible to hide.
“You said you wanted to tell me the truth.”
“I did.”
“Then why didn’t you tell me everything?”
Lucas looked at him.
“Because remembering the past can be more dangerous than forgetting it.”
Asher clenched his fists.
He hated that part of him understood.
For years, he had wanted answers.
But now that they were finally coming, they were not bringing peace.
They were bringing more questions.
Adrian watched them both.
“You still protect him the same way.”
Lucas’s expression became colder.
“You don’t get to talk about protection.”
Adrian smiled.
“You always believed you could save everyone.”
A tense silence filled the room.
Asher looked at Lucas.
“What happened between you two?”
Neither man answered.
And that answer alone told him there was a story they were both hiding.
Suddenly, Adrian looked toward Asher.
“Come with me.”
Lucas immediately reacted.
“No.”
Adrian ignored him.
“You want the truth, don’t you?”
Asher stayed silent.
Because he did.
More than anything.
“You want to know who your family was.”
Adrian stepped closer.
“You want to know why your kingdom was destroyed.”
Asher’s breathing slowed.
“You know?”
“Yes.”
Adrian looked directly into his eyes.
“I know who ordered it.”
The room became completely still.
Asher felt his heartbeat increase.
“Who?”
Adrian’s expression turned serious.
“Someone you trusted.”
Before Asher could ask another question, Lucas grabbed his arm.
“Don’t.”
Asher looked at him.
“Why?”
Because Lucas had no answer.
Not one that could change what was happening.
Outside, thunder echoed through the sky.
The same feeling from his nightmares returned.
The feeling that something buried was finally waking up.
Adrian turned toward the door.
“You have a choice, Asher.”
He paused.
“You can continue living as the person everyone created…”
Then he looked back.
“Or you can discover who you were meant to become.”
Adrian disappeared into the darkness.
Leaving Asher standing between two worlds.
The life he knew.
And the truth he had spent his entire life searching for.
But one thing was clear.
The past was no longer chasing him.
It had finally caught up.
- Writer
